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Accused priest was dedicated pastor

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I have known Father Raymond Lavelle for over 55 years. As an adolescent, I served Mass for him
at St. Agnes parish.

I was in the high-school youth program when he was there. He was pastor of St. Agnes when I was
ordained.

I am heartbroken over the damage done to a 50-year career by this allegation.

Since proceedings will be kept confidential, none of us will ever know if the charges are
true.

The abuse of any minor by anyone, whether it is a priest, teacher, coach, minister, etc. is a
horrible sin that God will punish.

My prayers go out for the person making the allegation.

The Tuesday
Dispatch story concerning the accusation against Fr. Lavelle did not include part of the
release from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus that, while the allegation is considered
credible, it does not mean he is guilty.

Credible may simply mean that, during the time he was at St. Agnes, the party in question
also lived there and may have been a server or in the youth group.

We were told that a further investigation will follow.

Lavelle’s reputation will suffer while we seek to determine if there are other allegations.

The sad thing is that if there are not, and he cannot prove his innocence, we will never hear if
he is cleared.

Carol Zamonski of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is correct in her observation
that abusers rarely have only one victim. It does not seem to follow that if there are no more
victims, maybe the one allegation was in error. The policy is, one “called” strike and you are
out.

I, and many others, will always remember Lavelle as a good priest who served for over 50 years
with distinction.

It seems like we are willing to publicly sacrifice the reputation of a priest on the altar of
political correctness. I hope the accuser finds peace.